At Slate Jamelle Bouie articulates a strategy for seizing control of the Democratic Party from its present domination by a bunch of septuagenarian white folk—give it to a septuagenarian black dude:
But the history of the Democratic Party contains a model for moving forward, with an approach, honed by Jesse Jackson, that bridges the divide. And thinkers in the political and policy world have crafted solutions that reflect this approach. It respects the reality of the modern Democratic Party: a formation that represents—and depends on—the votes of women, young people, and people of color.
because there’s nothing that proclaims your bona fides as the party of youth, vigor, and new ideas like an inability to find leaders who are under 70 years of age. That’s sure to cheer up “demoralized Democrats”. I noted with amusement that the photos of Rev. Jackson used to illustrate the post were 35 years old. It reminded me of nothing so much as the official bios of aging operatic divas, proudly illustrated with what by all evidence were their high school graduation photos.
When you cut through the persiflage in Mr. Bouie’s post, you come up with the old post-modernist discussion of authority—legitimacy vs. authenticity and, clearly, in Mr. Bouie’s eyes Rev. Jackson is automatically authentic because he is black. What a frail vessel for such hopes!
Karl Marx once declaimed that history repeats itself, first as tragedy then as farce. We appear to have already entered the farce stage.
